Jesus Embalmed?

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Grant

Puritan Board Graduate
I came across a striking sentence in a PCA Curriculum that stated, without argumentation, that Jesus was embalmed.

I guess I had never heard this before until today as the accounts of the burial of Christ do not seem to mention such exclusively. What are your thoughts? Have you heard this before regarding Christ?

More broadly, what guidance, if any, does the scripture provide for the question one might ask for his own body regarding modern day embalming?
 
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59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. (Matthew 27:59-61)

The first definition of "embalm" in Merriam-Webster dictionary is "to treat (a dead body) so as to protect from decay" -- To me wrapping in linen cloth qualifies as embalming, at least in part.

The only sticky part is that it doesn't seem that the spices/perfumes the women had prepared were able to be added to his body, which one could argue is necessary to be fully embalmed. Presumably no one else added such to his body either.

55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. 1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. (Luke 23:55-24:1)
 
59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. (Matthew 27:59-61)

The first definition of "embalm" in Merriam-Webster dictionary is "to treat (a dead body) so as to protect from decay" -- To me wrapping in linen cloth qualifies as embalming, at least in part.

The only sticky part is that it doesn't seem that the spices/perfumes the women had prepared were able to be added to his body, which one could argue is necessary to be fully embalmed. Presumably no one else added such to his body either.

55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. 1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. (Luke 23:55-24:1)
That’s very helpful Jake as it is easy to forget at times the danger of reading your Bible through our 21st Century lense.
 
It depends on what one means by "embalmed." I would not choose that word to describe what was done to Jesus' body (despite the apparently generous amount of spices John reports were used, along with the wrapping), because the reader might misunderstand and imagine modern embalming, or Egyptian mummification, etc. I would be more specific and say Jesus' body was wrapped in spices, or something like that. But I think the issue here is limited to wise word choice. I wouldn't question the theological orthodoxy of the publisher, or anything like that. Technically, "embalmed" is correct enough.
 
If the body being wrapped in spices is meant to show us anything, it probably is to assure us that Jesus really died. Joseph and Nicodemus, two learned men, clearly examined Jesus' body and concluded that he was dead and that decay was setting in.

I find it interesting that the Bible's accounts give us three authorities confirming that Jesus died: There is the civil authority represented by Pilate and the Roman centurion in Mark 15:44-45. There is the religious authority represented by Joseph and Nicodemus, who were on the council. And there is the witness of God himself, represented by the angel's words in Matthew 28:7 and Jesus' own testimony in Revelation 1:18.
 
While not embalming by our modern way and method, it appears apothecaries were used in preserving and "sweetening" the dead, both before and after a jew was buried:

Mar 16:1 KJV And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

Luk 23:56 KJV And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Joh 19:39-40 KJV 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
 
More broadly, what guidance, if any, does the scripture provide for the question one might ask for his own body regarding modern day embalming?
I have more questions than answers.

What is embalming for anyway? Is it just so you can appear in an open casket let's say a week after you die?

It is specified in my final wishes document that I will not be embalmed nor will there be an open casket for me. Perhaps not as bad as cremation, isn't embalming in the same class of destroying the body? The body the catechism says is still united to Christ.
 
Jacob and Joseph were embalmed...

And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.—Gen. 50:2,3
So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.—Gen. 50:26


It would appear Asa was also embalmed...

And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him.—2 Chron. 16:14
 
I have more questions than answers.

What is embalming for anyway? Is it just so you can appear in an open casket let's say a week after you die?

It is specified in my final wishes document that I will not be embalmed nor will there be an open casket for me. Perhaps not as bad as cremation, isn't embalming in the same class of destroying the body? The body the catechism says is still united to Christ.
Ed,

I think the most we could say from scripture is that embalming included methods of a temporary preserving of a body. Certainly the methods in biblical times looked different than today’s method. As some have noted above it could include wrapping, spices, perfumes, and, in Jacob’s case, likely some additional Egyptian customs of preservation.

Matthew Henry on Genesis 50:2-3:
2. He ordered the body to be embalmed (v. 2), not only because he died in Egypt, and that was the manner of the Egyptians, but because he was to be carried to Canaan, which would be a work of time, and therefore it was necessary the body should be preserved as well as it might be from putrefaction. See how vile our bodies are, when the soul has forsaken them; without a great deal of art, and pains, and care, they will, in a very little time, become noisome. If the body have been dead four days, by that time it is offensive. 3. He observed the ceremony of solemn mourning for him, v. 3. Forty days were taken up in embalming the body, which the Egyptians (they say) had an art of doing so curiously as to preserve the very features of the face unchanged; all this time, and thirty days more, seventy in all, they either confined themselves and sat solitary, or, when they went out, appeared in the habit of close mourners, according to the decent custom of the country.

I personally do not believe embalming is a destruction of the body as of today. It seems the idea behind embalming was/is to honor our earthy vessel and sometimes to allow time for other’s to pay respects and mourn. So while I do not believe embalming is an ethical requirement for a Christian, I also do not believe the Bible makes a case showing embalming (biblical context or modern) is automatically sinful.
 
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What happens to the body after death is largely irrelevant, at least to the deceased. Sure, people can make an idol of your corpse, but that in no way constitutes a sin to you; and if your intent was wrong before death, your spirit is now made perfect in Christ's presence--all the other remaining sins of your nature are done away with as well.
I don't see that it matters whether a body is mummified, pickled, eaten by wild beasts, cremated, sunk to the bottom of the ocean, consumed by worms in a coffin, or returned to dust by being left out in the desert. The resurrecting power of God is not hindered by anything that can happen or be done to a corpse: He will, as promised, raise it up at the last day, be it never so deeply buried or widely scattered.
When I die, let them do with my remains whatever will comfort them most: cremation, burial, shark bait--who cares? My spirit will be with Christ, I know that though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh will I see God--He has promised it, and will fulfill.
 
What happens to the body after death is largely irrelevant, at least to the deceased. Sure, people can make an idol of your corpse, but that in no way constitutes a sin to you; and if your intent was wrong before death, your spirit is now made perfect in Christ's presence--all the other remaining sins of your nature are done away with as well.

Ben, I disagree. Our bodies are of the flesh, yes. But these fleshly bodies are the very same bodies that will become Spiritual at the final resurrection. (see 1 Corinthians 15)

Let me ask you a question. Was Christ's body "largely irrelevant" while in the grave?

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A
. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ,[1] do rest in their graves [2] till the resurrection.[3]

Additional Questions from Fisher’s Catechism on SCQ 37

Q. 27. What benefits do believers receive from Christ, at death, with respect to their bodies?
A. Their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection, Isaiah 57:1, 2; Job 19:26.

Q. 28. How does it appear that the bodies of believers in their graves remain still united to Christ?
A. The union was with the person of believers, of which their bodies are a part; and this union being indissoluble, it must still subsist with their bodies in the grave, as well as with their souls in heaven, Isaiah 26:19.

Q. 29. How may believers be assured of this from the union between the two natures in the person of Christ?
A. Because, as at the death of Christ, though his soul was separated from his body, yet neither the one nor the other were separated from his divine person, but remained as firmly united to it as ever; so neither the soul nor body of the believer shall be separated from Christ by their separation from one another at death, but both of them remain indissolubly united to him for ever, Rom. 8:38, 39.

Q. 30. What is the difference of the grave to the righteous and to the wicked?
A. To the one the grave is a resting-place; but to the other it is a prison-house, where they are kept in close custody for the judgment of the great day, Dan. 12:2.

Q. 31. Why are the bodies of the saints said to REST in their graves?
A. Because their graves are like beds of ease, where their bodies lie in safety, till they shall be awakened in the morning of the resurrection, Isaiah 57:2.

Q. 32. How is their resting in the grave expressed in scripture?
A. By “sleeping in Jesus,” 1 Thess. 4:14; intimating, that they sleep in union with Jesus, and that his Spirit keeps possession of every particle of their dust, which he will quicken and rebuild as his temple at the last day, Rom. 8:11.

Q. 33. How long will they rest in their graves?
A. Till the resurrection of all the dead at the great day, John 5:29

Q. 34. How may believers be assured of receiving these promised benefits from Christ at their death?
A. They may be assured of them, upon this ground, that the promises of these benefits to them are all ingrafted upon the promises made to him, as their glorious head, before the world began, 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2.

Q. 35. Upon what promise made to Christ, is the promise of disarming death, to the dying believer, ingrafted? Hos. 13:14 — “O death, I will be thy plagues.”
A. It is ingrafted upon the promise made to him, of complete victory over death, Isaiah 25:8 — “He will swallow up death in victory.”

–––––––––––––––––
[1] 1 Thess. 4:14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
[2] Isa. 57:2. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
[3] Job 19:26. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Ver. 27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
 
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@Ed Walsh

BTW, I liked your pine box selection both for beauty and price. You have given me a great idea for myself. Though in my mind I imagine my family will give be a Boromir departure :):

C5C4E94A-4B6C-4E5F-BA7C-4C1C011CF098.jpeg
 
Ben, I disagree. Our bodies are of the flesh, yes. But these fleshly bodies are the very same bodies that will become Spiritual at the final resurrection. (see 1 Corinthians 15)

Let me ask you a question. Was Christ's body "largely irrelevant" while in the grave?

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A
. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ,[1] do rest in their graves [2] till the resurrection.[3]

Additional Questions from Fisher’s Catechism on SCQ 37

Q. 27. What benefits do believers receive from Christ, at death, with respect to their bodies?
A. Their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection, Isaiah 57:1, 2; Job 19:26.

Q. 28. How does it appear that the bodies of believers in their graves remain still united to Christ?
A. The union was with the person of believers, of which their bodies are a part; and this union being indissoluble, it must still subsist with their bodies in the grave, as well as with their souls in heaven, Isaiah 26:19.

Q. 29. How may believers be assured of this from the union between the two natures in the person of Christ?
A. Because, as at the death of Christ, though his soul was separated from his body, yet neither the one nor the other were separated from his divine person, but remained as firmly united to it as ever; so neither the soul nor body of the believer shall be separated from Christ by their separation from one another at death, but both of them remain indissolubly united to him for ever, Rom. 8:38, 39.

Q. 30. What is the difference of the grave to the righteous and to the wicked?
A. To the one the grave is a resting-place; but to the other it is a prison-house, where they are kept in close custody for the judgment of the great day, Dan. 12:2.

Q. 31. Why are the bodies of the saints said to REST in their graves?
A. Because their graves are like beds of ease, where their bodies lie in safety, till they shall be awakened in the morning of the resurrection, Isaiah 57:2.

Q. 32. How is their resting in the grave expressed in scripture?
A. By “sleeping in Jesus,” 1 Thess. 4:14; intimating, that they sleep in union with Jesus, and that his Spirit keeps possession of every particle of their dust, which he will quicken and rebuild as his temple at the last day, Rom. 8:11.

Q. 33. How long will they rest in their graves?
A. Till the resurrection of all the dead at the great day, John 5:29

Q. 34. How may believers be assured of receiving these promised benefits from Christ at their death?
A. They may be assured of them, upon this ground, that the promises of these benefits to them are all ingrafted upon the promises made to him, as their glorious head, before the world began, 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2.

Q. 35. Upon what promise made to Christ, is the promise of disarming death, to the dying believer, ingrafted? Hos. 13:14 — “O death, I will be thy plagues.”
A. It is ingrafted upon the promise made to him, of complete victory over death, Isaiah 25:8 — “He will swallow up death in victory.”

–––––––––––––––––
[1] 1 Thess. 4:14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
[2] Isa. 57:2. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
[3] Job 19:26. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Ver. 27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

So what of people who burned to death, were vaporized by bombs, or were cremated?

Too bad? No resurrection for you?
 
So what of people who burned to death, were vaporized by bombs, or were cremated?

Too bad? No resurrection for you?
Ed can speak for himself, but I do not think He is saying nor implying that if we have the wrong death or burial process we lose what our Lord has promised. We should not overly glorify our body, but that is no reason to have an “I don’t care attitude” for our earthy bodies either (dead or alive).
 
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Please forgive me my combative tone, Ed. I have been getting off on the wrong foot with people a lot lately, and I am sorry.

Let me rephrase my concern.

Knowing that God, infinite and omnipotent, has no problem raising even disintegrated corpses from the dead, and given that by the time of judgment day, a large portion of all humans who ever lived will not have any kind of body to speak of remaining due to natural decay processes, what really does it matter whether one is buried, embalmed, cremated, or used as tree fertilizer? I don't quite get the answer I'm looking for from the sources you quoted. I just need the idea teased out a little more.

Thank you.
 
Knowing that our bodies will be raised when our Lord returns seems to me to be a good incentive to be respectful to our remains. It's not a matter of disbelief in God's ability to perform the task, rather its a matter of anticipating Christ's glorious return and taking care of our bodies because we will in fact be reunited with them.
 
Knowing that our bodies will be raised when our Lord returns seems to me to be a good incentive to be respectful to our remains. It's not a matter of disbelief in God's ability to perform the task, rather its a matter of anticipating Christ's glorious return and taking care of our bodies because we will in fact be reunited with them.

But taking care of or not taking care of our bodies is 100% irrelevant to the manner in which they are raised. I don't see the compelling argument, to be honest.
 
So what exactly was the point of your comment in Post #11 in reply to Ben Zartman?

Note: I have studied this subject a lot and am trying to do more than express my opinion. I hope to change the minds of everyone who has a low, should I say Greek and Gnostic view, of the importance of the proper treatment of the dead. What is important to God should be important to us too.

The Bible in many places speaks in favor of a reverential treatment of the saint's dead bodies. And we should do the same.
Paul calls it "sleep."

Consider the care and expense Abraham took in the burial of his wife Sarah.

Genesis 23:3-4,8-9 (you should read the whole chapter)
And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

Consider Rizpah's care for the slain sons of Saul.

2 Samuel 21:10
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

Look at these verses on the curse of not being buried.

Ecclesiastes 6:3
If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

Jeremiah 22:19
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

1 Kings 16:4
Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.

Deuteronomy 28:26 (KJV)
And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

I really have to get back to work or I could quote dozens of verses with similar teaching on the proper treatment of a dead body.
 
Ok. So if I understand you correctly (and I hope I do), the concern has nothing at all to do with concerns over the resurrection, it has to do with the witness of scripture regarding the normative handling of human remains with care and dignity? Not necessarily for the sake of the corpse as a corpse, but for the sake of the dignity of the person as a person?

If so, I can give that some thought.
 
what really does it matter whether one is buried, embalmed, cremated, or used as tree fertilizer?
In terms of Christ's ability to raise the dead to life by his voice (John 5:25), and the certainty that the earth will give birth to the dead (Isaiah 26:19), it does not matter what happens to our bodies.

But I think it does matter in terms of our testimony, both our witness before the world and the hope we affirm in our own hearts. What we chose to do with the body reflects what we believe. If we believe our deaths are more like a planting than a final end (as Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44), and if we believe our bodies will follow the path of our Savior's body which arose from burial, it makes sense that we would express this hope by having our bodies buried or "planted" in the ground. That's not a hard-and-fast rule. Much will depend on circumstances, and this option may not always be feasible. But I do think it is preferable. It is a final testimony to the hope that is within us.
 
Ok. So if I understand you correctly (and I hope I do), the concern has nothing at all to do with concerns over the resurrection, it has to do with the witness of scripture regarding the normative handling of human remains with care and dignity? Not necessarily for the sake of the corpse as a corpse, but for the sake of the dignity of the person as a person?

If so, I can give that some thought.

I hope you do give it some thought. You get a C+ on this answer.

Of course, the way you consider and treat a body has no effect on the resurrection. The long-dead that returned to the earth may have been food for all kinds of fruit and vegetables that were in turn eaten by men and animals. Etc., etc., ad infinitum. None of this is any problem to the Lord. But remember, this body we have is the very same body that will be transformed like unto His glorious body--not some new body, but yours and mine. I ask again, Did Jesus' body matter after He died? What body rose from the dead? I don't think the resurrected body the disciples interacted with was a full view of what Christ's glory will be. It was still veiled to a great extent. If you want any idea what the God-man will be like in heaven I think the best place to look is how He appeared in the Transfiguration. "transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." Matthew 17:2, and Mark 9:2. There we see the oil lamp's wick turned up just a bit--about as much as Peter, James, and John could bear. And one Day we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is, and know even as we are known.

The Bible teaches that our bodies are seeds. Jesus' earthly body was the seed of His heavenly body. He said so himself. Jesus taught this. Speaking of Himself Jesus said,

John 12:23-24​
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Did you read much of my post number 11?

Here's Paul on the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49 [ESV]​
But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain : but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
 
 
Thanks for all the replies, Ed--I just got back to my computer. Truly, Sean has argued exactly as I would have. I do not advocate a careless use of dead people--they are the remains of people made in God's image, after all. But I cannot say that different methods of disposal according to local laws, customs, or necessity are wrong. Some cultures wrap their dead in some sort of coccon and hang them from trees (!?). It is their way of honoring the memory of the dead. It matters not in light of the Resurrection how one is returned to dust, whether quickly in flames or slowly by worms, or how far one's members are scattered abroad: God will raise us all up in the bodies we have.
As to Jesus, God did not suffer Him to see corruption (Psalm 16). But that doesn't mean nobody else does--in fact, everyone else does. Jesus was a special case, and I don't think His non-corruption after death is something we need to aspire to, especially since God has stated that to dust we shall return. Fisher's catechism that you quoted goes a little far into the speculative here, in my opinion.
 
Thanks for all the replies, Ed--I just got back to my computer. Truly, Sean has argued exactly as I would have. I do not advocate a careless use of dead people--they are the remains of people made in God's image, after all. But I cannot say that different methods of disposal according to local laws, customs, or necessity are wrong. Some cultures wrap their dead in some sort of coccon and hang them from trees (!?). It is their way of honoring the memory of the dead. It matters not in light of the Resurrection how one is returned to dust, whether quickly in flames or slowly by worms, or how far one's members are scattered abroad: God will raise us all up in the bodies we have.
As to Jesus, God did not suffer Him to see corruption (Psalm 16). But that doesn't mean nobody else does--in fact, everyone else does. Jesus was a special case, and I don't think His non-corruption after death is something we need to aspire to, especially since God has stated that to dust we shall return. Fisher's catechism that you quoted goes a little far into the speculative here, in my opinion.

Notwithstanding your indifference, I suspect those that hang their dead in trees do so for (hetero)doctrinal reasons. Well, the practice of burial in Christendom down through the ages in like manner has a doctrinal reason behind it. One we would do well to study and understand. I would strongly exhort you to read Donald Howard's Burial or Cremation: Does it Matter?
 
I think it is noteworthy, that one of the sweetest commendations in all the gospels is occasioned by a woman at Bethany having a loving regard for Jesus' body. Notwithstanding the protest of his own disciples, Jesus says,

She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.—Mark 14:8-9
 
Notwithstanding your indifference, I suspect those that hang their dead in trees do so for (hetero)doctrinal reasons. Well, the practice of burial in Christendom down through the ages in like manner has a doctrinal reason behind it. One we would do well to study and understand. I would strongly exhort you to read Donald Howard's Burial or Cremation: Does it Matter?
I don't think example should be turned into doctrine. Jesus was buried because that's what was done with dead bodies at that time. It's arguably the easiest and cheapest way to dispose of a corpse--or was, until cremation became widely available--and is why most of the dead in all ages were buried.
If God required that Christians be buried after death instead of disposed of otherwise He would have issued a command.
 
He would have issued a command.

You mean like worshipping on Sunday instead of Saturday?
You mean like the direct binding of the conscience to believe in the Trinity?
Are we commanded to believe that truth and binding authority can “by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture?”
Is there an explicit example of a woman eating the Lord’s Supper?
Here's one for a "Confessional Baptist." Where is it commanded to withhold the Covenant sign from our children?
Is there a command to become a member of the Church?
Q. How did Jesus prove to the Sadducees that there is a resurrection from the dead?
A. Jesus deduced this truth from Scripture.
Matthew 22:31-33​
But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
Can you prove from the New Testament that bestiality is forbidden?
Similarly, how do we know which commands of the Old Testament are (or are not) binding in the New?
I could go on.
 
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